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NOCH steroids safe

North Ottawa Community Health System officials are telling patients not to worry.

Krystle Wagner

Grand Haven

Oct 27, 2012

The Grand Haven-based health system's Dunewood Pharmacy has received products from the New England Compounding Center, which is responsible for the fungal meningitis outbreak in 18 states, including Michigan. However, the products sent to Grand Haven and used at North Ottawa Community Hospital did not include the contaminated steroid injections linked to the outbreak.

“None of the product we have has been implicated in the illness,” health system spokeswoman Jen VanSkiver said.

As a precaution, the North Ottawa Community Health System sent letters to its patients informing them they received products from the company at the center of the outbreak, VanSkiver said.

As of Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 338 cases and 25 deaths nationwide. In Michigan, 82 cases and five deaths have been reported in the outbreak.

Dunewood Pharmacy Director Darcy Tussing said they don’t normally receive products from the company, and only started working with them because of drug shortages elsewhere. Tussing said the products they’ve received haven’t been listed for recall, and they haven’t heard anything indicating their products would be added to the list.

“We’re just being overly cautious to let them know we received the product,” she said.

To see the full list of pharmacies that received the contaminated product from the New England Compounding Center, click here.